Key battles in WW1/WW2

Moscow

Moscow...

One of the most important battles of both WW2 and in military history, was the desperate defence by the Red army in late Autumn into early winter in 1941. Where German army group centre launched an attack on the city. To take it before the onset of winter as it was a part of the German summer campaign. But let's see how this historic battle took place at the gates of Moscow.

As of Summer 1941, the Red army had been consistently pushed back and retreated to further defensive lines as the Germans rapidly advanced eastwards. And by Autumn and late winter they were pushed to the gates of Moscow. And just shortly before, a large encirclement had weakened the Soviet strength on the front and in numbers had half of the man power defending Moscow fully mobilised. Also During all the plans to invade the Soviet union, many of the German troops had been held back by battles that constantly delayed their advance. And they were caught up in the Autumn with little time on hand to move. And they couldn't reach their goal of going to the Ural mountains. So they made an easier goal to at least take the capital city of the USSR which was Moscow. And after the encirclement of Briansk and Kiev, there was a massive mobilisation movement.

As the German advance towards Moscow slowed, tens of thousands of troops flocked to the front as they desperately needed to repel the German advance before it was too late.
And as the men flocked the German forces couldn't bring up reinforcements because they would not make it in time to invade Moscow. So they tried anything they could to reach the city before Winter fell upon them. Eventually 1¼ million men on the Soviet side has built up and the Germans were now outnumbered after heavy losses while advancing. And by December the weather had become severely cold and couldn't be mistaken. And with the Germans lacking Winter equipment and troops. The Red army who were skilled Siberian soldiers. Launched their counterattack and because the Germans didn't have the numbers or equipment to defend, they were forced to retreat and hold back. The Defence of Moscow was crucial to the Soviet survival and tactic. And Moscow had been saved. But the Red army had been decimated and heavily damaged numerically and it would take some time for them to fully recover to strength.

What made this battle so significant was that it was one of the most important battles in military history because Moscow was the head of Communcation and military equipment. And by taking the city the USSR morale would have been crushed and would disrupt major supplies and probably would knock the western Allies out of the war. Primarily Britain and her empire. But with Soviet determination and desperation they were able to rapidly replace the losses from the earlier encirclement. And because of their efficiency and valorous ability in winter combat, they were able to push the under supplied and freezing Germans away from the gates of Moscow. And would mark the failure of operation Barbarossa in December 1941 and into early 1942.